Donnie Nietes Set To Return To The Ring Soon
Hardcore observers of the smaller weight divisions have wondered what has happened to former four-time, four-division champion Donnie Nietes (42-1-5, 23 KOs) since his career-best win over Kazuto Ioka in December 2018.
He has been quiet since. The only significant news associated with him was in August 2020 when word came down that his promoter, ALA Boxing, was forced to close its doors due to financial troubles. So given that backdrop and with no announcement of any upcoming fight, the question begged, “had Nietes, one of the greatest fighters Filipino boxing history decided to call it a day?”
IMMINENT RETURN
We now have an answer to that question, as Nietes gave an update on his career during an exclusive interview with The Manilla Times. As he explained to them, not only are there plans to return to the ring soon, Nietes is also on the verge of signing with a new manager/promoter!
While not disclosing details of who will handle his career going forward, the 37-year-old is excited to get back trading punches. He will target the elite at 115-pounds and is the top dawg in the junior bantamweight division.
“The offer is pretty good. They want to give me a tune-up fight by December or January. After that, they will try to negotiate with any of Rungvisai, Chocolatito, or Estrada for a possible match.
I don’t want to preempt. I just think that we have to wait for them to announce. Probably they will announce it this week. I’m just excited to return to the ring. I’m just happy that there’s someone that gave me this offer.”
If he’s anywhere close to what he was the last time we saw him in the ring, Nietes is still one of the top fighters among boxing’s Little Big Men.
This is one skilled old warrior and could certainly give the big three at 115 (Roman Gonzalez, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and Juan Francisco Estrada) a run for their money. Already a loaded division that is one of the best in the sport, junior bantamweight is about to become even better.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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